


Last Goodbye

by SaraJaye



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Angst, Choices, Creepypasta, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Lost Footage, M/M, Multiple Endings, This will hurt, Unhappy Ending, being Apollo is suffering, mild psychological horror, seriously don't read if you don't like sad as shit endings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-27
Updated: 2017-10-27
Packaged: 2019-01-25 06:05:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12524692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaraJaye/pseuds/SaraJaye
Summary: Apollo has a chance to gain the closure he's needed after Clay's death, but will he take it?





	Last Goodbye

Ace Attorney is a series where getting attached to characters can be dangerous, because anyone can die. Or worse, they're dead to begin with and the wonderful stories people tell about them make it all that more disappointing that you'll never properly meet them.

Clay Terran from the 5th game was this for me, because Apollo's easily my favorite of the attorneys and I was thrilled to get more backstory for him. When he told his story about how he met Clay and described the depth of their friendship, I cried. I felt cheated that such a kind and loving young man with such a beautiful dream was dead, ripped from Apollo's life, and from the story before we ever had a chance to know him.

One day, about a year or so after I finished the game, I had the stroke of luck to chat with one of the Dual Destinies writers on social media. I learned that originally, the player did get to meet Terran himself in the game but they were forced to cut it out, since the game was a download and it would have taken up too much digital space otherwise. But, the writer said, they could send the data for the original scene Clay was in, fully playable. I accepted without a second thought and gave her my Steam account name.

It was only the final two cases, but I didn't mind. I loved every case, but I didn't want to go through the whole game again just to see Clay. Even when the cases played out just as they had in canon I didn't feel too cheated, I just anticipated flashback scenes. Apollo talking to Clay before the HAT-2 launch, side scenes of them chatting after the second or third cases, Clay paying a visit during the DLC case.

No such luck. The final case ended, and no Clay. NOW I felt cheated, like I'd just been the victim of a clever prank. I pictured the writer and their buddies laughing at me, the gullible fan who really thought they cared about some dead astronaut.

But then, the ending scene shifted to Apollo's point of view, and my heart soared. Clay! He was right there, on the screen! I realized quickly that it was his ghost, but it was still him! He was smiling, Apollo was crying, they talked, and I felt happy for my favorite lawyer finally getting some closure.

Then, Clay's face became serious and he asked a question:

"Do you love me?"

WOAH. That, I did not see coming. The Ace Attorney games aren't shy about romantic subtext of any kind, but they've never made anything canon or had any love confessions. This was totally new, and I'd come away from the game shipping Apollo/Clay something fierce so I was pretty pleased.

I saved the game, as I'm in the habit of doing every time I make any decisions just in case I screw up, and selected Yes. Apollo went on for a bit about how he loved Clay, how he'd never stop loving him even if he found someone else, that Clay was his first and deepest love, and Clay cried and there was a still shot of them embracing and I couldn't stop crying for ten minutes.

If I'd been smart, I'd have just ended it right there and rolled in the bittersweet feelings of knowing the writers cared about my ship even if this footage didn't fit in the game.

But I was morbidly curious about the other option. I closed the game, loaded the save, and this time I chose No.

"I see."

Clay's face suddenly went dark, his eyes looked like a man possessed, and a sickly smile spread across his face.

"I was afraid of that, Apollo. I was afraid you'd forget about me after I died." Apollo started freaking out and tried to explain that he DID love Clay, just not in that way, but the screen was dimming, Clay was starting to look wildly unstable, and his hands reached for the screen. For ME.

"I won't let you forget about me. You're not leaving me behind again, Apollo. You're MINE."

Apollo let out a voiced and very loud scream (think Dahlia in Trials and Tribulations only, you know, deeper) as the screen went dark, and then black. The final text block showed Athena and Phoenix calling for Apollo, and the scene changed to a still of a deathly-pale and crying Apollo tied up with Clay stroking his cheek. Rejection had turned Clay's spirit evil, and he had dragged Apollo down to Hell with him.

Obviously this wasn't meant to be canon since Spirit of Justice exists now and that ends up being Apollo's game, but the very fact that the writers had thought to put this in the game at all...WAS Clay meant to be a darker character before the final release? Or maybe, just maybe, was the whole final scene Apollo's dream as he lay alone in his bed that night? A manifestation of his feelings for Clay, or perhaps the guilt he felt over not being able to protect him from the phantom.

Maybe that's why the following game seemed to forget all about Clay. Apollo's dream shook him so badly, his guilt was so immense he repressed all memories of the person he held so dear for more than ten years of his life.

Which means it's only a matter of time before he breaks again.

**Author's Note:**

> So I wrote this because there was a severe lack of Ace Attorney creepypasta out there and I've been in Claypollo hell recently, plus I'm a sucker for Lost Episodes/Footage/Beta Version pastas, cliche as they are. Sadly, such a version of AA5 obviously does not exist, because I'd be all over that even if it was this creepy. (Like I'd pick any other option than Yes!)


End file.
